Characteristics analysis of autumn ozone pollution weather patterns in the Pearl River Delta based on the SOM method

LI Yun-wei; WU Yan-xing; ZHANG Jing-wen; LIU Run

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China Environmental Science ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (3) : 1194-1201.

Ozone Pollution Control

Characteristics analysis of autumn ozone pollution weather patterns in the Pearl River Delta based on the SOM method

LI Yun-wei¹, WU Yan-xing¹, ZHANG Jing-wen¹, LIU Run^1,2

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Abstract

Given the ozone (O₃) pollution events in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region frequently occur in autumn and the increasing application of objective weather classification methods in urban agglomeration pollution studies, this study employed the Self-Organizing Map (SOM) method to classify the sea level pressure fields in the PRD and to investigate the impacts of different weather patterns on severe autumn O₃ pollution. The results indicated that 15weather patterns identified from sea level pressure fields could be categorized into four groups based on O₃ pollution levels: heavy pollution, moderate pollution, light pollution, and clean. Among them, heavy and moderate pollution weather patterns exhibited distinct seasonal distributions, with the weak cold high-pressure combined with typhoon and subtropical high pattern (T12) (The average O₃ concentration was 118.2 μg/m³, with an exceedance rate of 22.4%) was associated with the most severe O₃ pollution. Autumn O₃ exceedance days under heavy pollution patterns were generally accompanied by high solar radiation (554.1kJ/m² above the mean), high temperature (3.1℃ above the mean), and low relative humidity (9.2% below the mean), which were highly favorable for O₃ formation. Using the circulation field of heavy pollution weather patterns with autumn O₃ exceedance day as a reference, the study found that the number of days favorable for O₃ exceedance during 2015~2024 was significantly correlated with autumn O₃ concentration. Furthermore, the number of favorable days under similar circulation conditions showed a significant increasing trend during 1995~2060 (with an average growth rate of 0.14d/a).

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Pearl River Delta / ozone / SOM weather classification method / meteorology

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LI Yun-wei, WU Yan-xing, ZHANG Jing-wen, LIU Run. Characteristics analysis of autumn ozone pollution weather patterns in the Pearl River Delta based on the SOM method[J]. China Environmental Science. 2026, 46(3): 1194-1201

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